Uzbekistan

The United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, arrived in Tashkent from New York on Sunday afternoon, 30 June.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks upon receiving the highest order of the Dostlik Award, in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, today:

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Sabine Machl of Austria as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Uzbekistan, with the host Government’s approval, starting her appointment on 1 June.

In Ukraine, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that attacks on Kharkiv, in the east of the country, continued over the weekend and today. Local authorities report civilian casualties, including among children, and damage to civilian infrastructure.

The new Permanent Representative of Uzbekistan to the United Nations, Ulugbek Lapasov, presented his credentials to UN Secretary-General António Guterres today.

On Saturday, accompanied by Pakistan’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, the Secretary-General travelled to Balochistan, Larkana and Sukkur, in Sindh Province, and met with a group of women and men who abandoned everything to help their neighbours reach safety as their houses flooded. He said he had never seen climate carnage on this scale.

Today marks five years since the Minamata Convention on Mercury entered into force. The Convention protects human health and the environment from the adverse effects of mercury. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) administers the agreement, which has 137 parties.

At least 10 people have died and more than 43,000 are displaced across 180 displacement sites as a result of Tropical Cyclone Batsirai, which made landfall on the east coast of Madagascar on 5 February.  The first aerial assessment took place today with a United Nations Humanitarian Air Service flight.

The Secretary-General condemned the double suicide bombing by suspected Boko Haram fighters on 5 April in Amichidé, in the Far North region of Cameroon, reiterating the United Nations continued support to countries in the Lake Chad Basin as they address the security, economic and humanitarian challenges posed by that group.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees airlifted emergency relief items to Chad on 19 March, responding to the humanitarian needs of some 10,000 Sudanese refugees.  Clashes in Sudan’s West Darfur region since late 2019 have forced more than 16,000 people, mostly women and children, to cross the border into Chad.